


Mirror mirror on the wall

by Veto_power_over_clocks



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, Kageyama's life would be a lot easier if she was a tsundere instead of just awkward, Mecano's 'Maquillaje' is this fic's official soundtrack, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 17:59:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2821193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veto_power_over_clocks/pseuds/Veto_power_over_clocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Hinata starts wearing make-up, Kageyama realizes she has a huge crush on her, and everything is Tsukishima “I can wear red lipstick and look like a queen” Kei’s fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirror mirror on the wall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [imightbejehan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/imightbejehan/gifts).



> Shout out to my beta for being awesome, and to my moirail for the help with Hinata's make-up.

Everything is Tsukishima fucking Kei’s fault.

Everything. Yes, even the fact that Kageyama’s shoelaces are bit frayed. She’s not sure how exactly that’d be Tsukishima’s fault, but it doesn’t matter. It’s probably her fault too, because Kageyama’s life right now is horrible and she can pinpoint the exact moment things started going downhill, and that had been when Tsukishima had walked into the gym wearing red lipstick and looking good in it.

Kageyama will be the first to admit (in her mind, never out loud) that she doesn’t know a thing about make-up, only owns a bar of lip balm that she sometimes remembers to use (and which she hasn’t seen in a while), but she is aware that many girls who try red lipstick sometimes end up looking like clowns if they’re not careful, so why couldn’t Tsukishima be one of those girls? Kageyama stared; she couldn’t help it, half-amazed, half-annoyed, half-pissed off that she was admiring something not volleyball-related about Tsukishima - wait, that’s three halves.

Okay, the point is that she wasn’t happy about it, so she turned away before Tsukishima could notice and smirk, only to find Hinata staring at her. Intently.

“What are you looking at, dumbass?” Kageyama snapped.

“You were looking at Tsukishima like you thought she was cool.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were. You were like, 'woooo',” she brought her hands to her face to emphasize her eyes. “Why?”

“I don’t think she’s cool. I was curious. It’s different.”

“Okay, but why?”

“What do you care?”

“I’m curious now!”

“Deal with it!”

“No! Tell me!”

Hinata walked until she was right in front of Kageyama, face serious and a bit intimidating, so Kageyama sighed and mumbled, “I’ve never seen anyone wearing red lipstick outside of magazines.”

“So you think she’s cool because she wears make-up?” Hinata said, blinking a couple of times and pointing towards Tsukishima, thus forcing Kageyama to make her lower her hands before anyone could notice and get an idea of what they were talking about.

“I already told you I don’t think she’s cool.” Kageyama’s voice hardened, emphasizing her words. “And it’s not because of make-up, it’s because of the lipstick!”

“She does look pretty cool, though, doesn’t she?” Hinata said, frowning a bit in concentration. “I bet I could look cool too if I wore make-up.”

“Yes, right. Do you even have the motor skills necessary for that?”

“Are you doubting me? I’ll show you. I’m going to wear make-up and you’ll have to admit I look cool too!”

“I don’t think she’s cool!”

“Yes, you do! But I’m gonna be cooler, and you’ll be even more ‘woooooo’ when you see me, you’ll see!”

And that had been it. The matter had been dropped after some more banter that had been interrupted by the start of practice, and Kageyama had promptly forgotten about it because, really, why would Hinata want to wear make-up? She was cute already, and she didn’t really need to impress anyone. If Hinata thought Kageyama would be impressed just because she somehow became able to paint her face, she’d be extremely disappointed.

But then, two weeks later, when Tanaka enters the gym and announces she is going to show everyone her masterpiece, Hinata walks in, smiling triumphantly — and now Kageyama’s staring, because, oh, fuck, Hinata had been right; it’s far more impressive than Tsukishima’s make-up.

It’s actually worse than what Hinata had predicted, because she looks _pretty_ , and, for reasons Kageyama absolutely refuses to acknowledge, it’s making Kageyama’s heart beat so hard she’s sure it’ll break her ribs, and at some point she forgot to breathe.

She inhales sharply, earning worried looks from both Sugawara and Daichi, and that’s pretty much the cherry on top of the mess. Later Sugawara will approach her and be nice and patient and understanding and Kageyama will have to struggle to avoid telling her what she’s just realized, and she’ll have to lie to Sugawara, which she’ll definitely notice, and then Daichi will know, and then she will talk to Kageyama, and Kageyama will be too scared to formulate a coherent lie and she’ll panic and they’ll realize she’s gone crazy and she won’t be Karasuno’s setter anymore.

Kageyama’s future is a dark void and it’s Tsukishima “I can wear red lipstick and look like a queen” Kei’s fault.

“You look amazing!” Nishinoya says, getting really close to Hinata’s face to examine it.

“Of course she does, I taught her!” Tanaka replies, putting an arm around Hinata’s shoulders and smiling widely.

“Who are you trying to impress?” asks Tsukishima, giving Hinata a dubious look and making Kageyama’s heart drop.

“Huh? Impress?” Hinata asks.

“Don’t play dumb!” Tanaka says, giving Hinata a conspiratorial look. “You asked me to help you look pretty, so you must be trying to impress someone!”

“No, I’m not!” Hinata says in a way that would be believable if her face weren’t red.

Tsukishima smirks. “Really?”

“Really! I wanted to prove to Kageyama that I could wear make-up!”

That makes everyone turn to Kageyama, who would really appreciate it if their captain remembered they’re supposed to be training, not analyzing Hinata’s new look.

“Oh, come on, there must be another reason besides that!” Nishinoya says, turning back to Hinata, who no longer looks comfortable in Tanaka’s hold. “Who is it? Who do you like?”

“I don’t like anyone!”

“They say girls in love become prettier,” Sugawara says, joining the group, smiling at Hinata.

Things devolve into chaos there, with Tanaka complaining that her kohai is going to get a boyfriend before she does, Tsukishima making snide remarks and Yamaguchi snickering next to her, Sugawara offering comments that might have been meant to be nice but were only making Hinata become redder, and Daichi getting more pissed off each passing second.

Kageyama barely registers what happens, too caught thinking about who Hinata might be trying to impress. Up to that point, she’d assumed that the change had been to prove her wrong, but really, Tanaka had mentioned she’d asked to look pretty, not cool.

Later, as they’re changing, she pays attention to Hinata’s face. She’s wearing light brown eyeliner, brown mascara, eye shadow in a color that Kageyama can only describe as brownish salmon, and light red lip gloss.

“What?” Hinata asks, cautiously, taking a step away from Kageyama.

“Nothing.”

“You were glaring at me.”

“I was looking at your make-up,” Kageyama clarifies.

Hinata’s smile lights up her whole face.

“I look cool, don’t I? I told you I would! Tanaka-senpai is the best at make-up, she taught me!”

“Did you really ask her to make you pretty?”

“Huh?” Hinata seems confused for a moment. “Maybe I did? I don’t remember the exact words I used when I went to her.” She laughs and looks away, and Kageyama knows she’s lying.

So she was trying to impress someone. She wanted someone to think she was pretty, and instead she ended up with a smitten Kageyama.

Sugawara approaches her as she’s leaving the changing room.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

Kageyama really needs to tell someone that she’s just realized she’s incredibly gay for Hinata and that she’s incredibly jealous of some guy that might not even exist, and that she’s also incredibly nervous because she has no idea how to deal with it, but she doesn’t think the vice-captain could help her with any of those things.

“Hinata learned how to wear make-up before I did,” Kageyama says, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Sugawara looks extremely confused.

“So… you’re angry about it?”

“Yes.” She pouts for added effect.

Sugawara opens and closes her mouth a couple of times before speaking.

“Well, maybe you could learn too. I can help you if you want.”

“I’ll think about it. Thank you.”

Kageyama leaves quickly. She swears she hears Sugawara snort and laugh, but she’s too far to be sure and she’s not turning to check.

On the walk home, she stops at a drugstore and heads for the make-up aisle. She’s trying to figure out what to get when a voice from the aisle’s entrance says, “Oh, so the Queen has decided to try make-up too?” and Kageyama finds herself cursing Tsukishima for the umpteenth time that day before turning around to face her, which makes her curse again, because Tsukishima’s sneering and Yamaguchi's standing next to her looking uncomfortable.

“That’s none of your business,” Kageyama says, glaring at them as she steps away from the lip gloss. She blindly tries to reach for where she thinks she saw the lip balm, and ends up with a handful of lipsticks for her troubles, which only makes Tsukishima and Yamaguchi snicker.

Since trying to multitask had been a bad idea, Kageyama allows herself to glare at Tsukishima one last time before facing the shelves and putting back the lipstick, being careful not to pay any attention to the other girls.

She’s conscious of Tsukishima's eyes on her, but she refuses to turn and acknowledge her, instead looking intently at all the varieties of lipstick for sale. She grabs one that catches her eye just as Tsukishima lets out a bored, “Yamaguchi, let’s go,” and walks away.

Kageyama doesn’t even have a second to celebrate her freedom, because Yamaguchi says, “I need something from here, I’m going in a minute,” and walks to Kageyama’s side.

They remain in silence, Kageyama reading the label on the lipstick she picked, Yamaguchi looking alternately at the products on sale and at Kageyama. It’s unnerving at first, but after the fifth glance it’s outright unbearable.

“What do you want?”

“Sorry, I just…” Yamaguchi bites her lip, turns to the make-up again and reaches for a tube of light pink, almost transparent, lip gloss, which she shows to Kageyama. “Start with something simple, so you can get an idea of what it feels like. Then you can start using other things if you like it. Like mascara, or eye shadow…” Her words come out in a very low tone, making it hard for Kageyama to hear them, especially as she starts looking at the display again. She takes a bar of light pink lipstick and hands it and the lip gloss to Kageyama, looking determined. “If you really want lipstick, this color is better than the one you picked… um… the one you liked needs matching eye shadow to look good.” 

Kageyama looks at what she’s been handed in amazement for a moment, before distrust kicks in.

“Are you trying to make me look ugly?”

 _Crap_ , thinks Kageyama. She’s given the perfect set-up for a mean retort, but Yamaguchi just shakes her head.

“Make-up’s hard. You need to practice.” She shrugs and looks down, and for the first time in the months since they met does Kageyama pay attention to Yamaguchi’s face, which is… kind of perfect, actually. Her freckles are visible, but there aren’t any other marks on her skin, her eyelashes are curled, her lips look smooth. It’s far more impressive than Tsukishima’s red lipstick. “Practice a lot,” she continues, stern. “Tsukki spent a lot of time trying to get her look right.” She smiles fondly, a bit amused.

“Did you teach her how to put it on?”

Yamaguchi nods, raises her head higher.

“Don’t start with anything too obvious if you’re learning on your own. Just… there are tutorials and videos online. But you should be fine with these at first,” she points at the lip gloss and the lipstick. She then turns to grab eyeliner and walks away. “Good luck,” she says, another small smile on her face, her hand slightly raised in a farewell gesture.

Kageyama buys what Yamaguchi told her to, and rushes home to try it on.

She gets into the bathroom without even going to her room, takes out the lipstick and applies it, carefully. When she’s done, she studies her reflection and feels like screaming. Girls in love supposedly become prettier, right? Then why is it that all she sees in the mirror is an angry goblin?

She sits on the toilet, brings her legs up, hides her face behind her knees and forces herself to go through everything that has happened in the day, starting at the horrible realization that she has a crush. She can deal with it, she knows she can. She hasn’t been rejected, she hasn’t been set aside or ignored, and she’s sure that as long as she doesn’t say anything, her relationship with Hinata will be the same. She just needs to… live with it until it goes away, needs Hinata to remain blissfully unaware of the pirouettes Kageyama’s stomach did the whole morning whenever they so much as exchanged looks.

 _She’s trying to impress someone_ , she tells herself over and over again, because maybe if she drills it into her head she’ll be able to get over Hinata a bit faster, but all she gets for her trouble is a knot on her throat and pinpricks on her eyes.

She stands up, cleans her lips, washes her face and goes to her room, where she buries the lipstick in one of her desk drawers.

The next morning, Sugawara and Daichi give her worried looks as soon as she enters the gym, but she acts as if she hasn’t noticed them and avoids them whenever they try to approach her. Hinata also seems to notice that something is wrong, because Kageyama keeps catching her darting glances. Kageyama suggests that instead of watching her she should pay attention to the ball.

The worst thing is that Hinata has apparently decided to wear make-up every day, so Kageyama keeps thinking about how damn pretty she looks, glares at her for causing her so much pain, and also glares at Tsukishima whenever she has the chance because, really, _everything_ is her fault.

During afternoon practice, Hinata watches her like she’s afraid Kageyama’s going to yell at her, but she still doesn’t leave Kageyama’s side.

In the changing room, Hinata takes a long time to get dressed, tells everyone to leave but asks Kageyama to wait for her. After everyone has gone, giving them looks that went from confused to suggestive, Hinata walks to where Kageyama’s sitting, leans over and says, “Why are you angry at me? You’ve been looking at me ugly the whole day. Like, more than usual, I mean. But it’s more of a ‘booooo’ look than the ‘aaaaaaaaaargh’ look you always give me. Are you okay?”

Kageyama crosses her arms and mumbles, “I can’t wear make-up.”

“…That’s it?”

Kageyama would like to shake Hinata to make her change her confused expression, because, yes, that’s it, but it also isn’t, but she’s not going to say it.

“Yes.” She replies instead.

“Really? You’ve been like this the whole day because you can’t wear make-up?” Hinata starts laughing, which embarrasses Kageyama, who stands up quickly and ends up knocking down her school bag. Which she still hadn’t closed.

Her pens and notebooks fall out, and she’s desperate to find a hole to crawl into when she sees the lip gloss she’d bought the day before rolling out and Hinata picking it up.

“So you bought make-up?” Hinata reads the label and her eyes widen. “I know this one! Tanaka-senpai told me about it! She says it’s like, super-good, and that it’s really sweet! Is it true? Can I try it?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t used it.”

“No?” Hinata’s face falls and her shoulders sag, and she hands back the tube to Kageyama, who takes it and studies it.

“What do you mean that it’s sweet?”

“Tanaka-senpai says it’s flavored.”

“Really?”

Kageyama applies some to her lips and licks them. The flavor is sweet, but also slightly minty. It’s pleasant, and her face relaxes.

“So?” Hinata asks, bringing her face close to Kageyama’s and looking at her expectantly.

“It’s good. Try it.” Kageyama isn’t sure what possesses her then, because she puts a small amount of lip gloss on her index finger and passes it over Hinata’s lower lip.

They freeze, staring at each other for a second before Kageyama quickly removes her hand and any ability to speak coherently leaves her, leaving her trying to stammer an apology or an explanation and slowly going red from head to toe.

Hinata doesn’t look much better either. She’s also blushing, pressing her lips together and licking them over and over again.

“Yes… it’s very good,” Hinata says after what feels like an eternity, without looking at Kageyama who just… runs away.

She doesn’t stop to pick up her things, doesn’t even get her bag, just bolts for the door and doesn’t look back until she’s far enough that she can hide and watch the entrance to the changing room. She intends to stay there until Hinata leaves, but the minutes pass and Hinata’s not coming out. After half an hour, she returns, dragging her feet.

When she re-enters the changing room, she finds Hinata sitting on the floor, holding the lip gloss to her chest like a holy object. Next to her, Kageyama’s notebooks have been arranged into a pile.

Hinata’s on her feet as soon as she hears the door, and right in front of Kageyama before the idea of escaping again has fully formed on her mind.

“Why the hell did you run?!” Hinata asks, hands moving wildly, nervous and worried and, well, cute.

Hinata’s too close for Kageyama’s brain to be able to elaborate a believable excuse, so she ends up yelling “I like you!” which makes Hinata flinch and cover her ears, but not move away. “Please don’t stop talking to me!” she adds, desperate.

“Wait, what?” Hinata’s frowning in confusion.

“I like you!” Kageyama yells again, but a bit less loudly than before. Which is still very loud. Hinata still doesn’t take a step back.

“No, the other thing!”

“Don’t stop talking to me?” Now Kageyama’s wearing a bemused expression to match Hinata’s.

“Yes, that! Why would I stop talking to you?” Hinata says, lowering her hands from her ears.

“Because I like you!” Kageyama says, exasperated.

“I got that already! But why would I stop talking to you?” Hinata replies, equally annoyed.

“Because you don’t like me back?”

“But I do like you!”

There’s a long silence after that, during which they both just give each other puzzled looks.

“Wait, what?” Kageyama says. “You do?”

“Yes! And, um… you like me too?” Hinata asks, inching even closer to Kageyama and looking at her expectantly.

“Yes!”

“Oh… great!” Hinata grins.

They don’t move, which is kinda awkward when there are only about fifteen centimeters of distance between their faces. Kageyama suspects it might be the time to kiss Hinata, but she isn’t very sure about how to go about it. Does she lean down? Does she ask for permission? Do they go on a date first?

“Uh… do we kiss now?” she says, watching Hinata’s face attentively for a sign.

Hinata nods enthusiastically, and raises her head as Kageyama lowers hers, closing her eyes, which leads to her nose bumping against Hinata’s with too much force. They both groan, and when Kageyama opens her eyes she finds Hinata has a hand to her nose and is rubbing the tip.

“You’re supposed to look where you’re going!” Hinata says.

“You too!”

“No! You give the instructions and I follow!”

“This isn’t a match, you idiot!”

“Kissing was your idea!”

“You moved first!”

“Because I thought you knew what you were doing!”

Kageyama lets out a frustrated groan.

“Okay! Let’s both keep our eyes open until we know exactly where we are!”

The second attempt at least gets their mouths where they’re supposed to be, but is as much of a failure as the previous one. They have no idea what to do, and Hinata ends up scratching Kageyama’s upper lip with her teeth. On the third attempt, Kageyama accidentally bites Hinata’s tongue.

They decide that a fourth attempt will probably do more harm than good, so they just sit next to each other on the floor, holding hands and avoiding eye contact.

“Here,” Hinata says, handing Kageyama the lip gloss. “Why did you want to wear make-up?”

Kageyama rolls the tube between her fingers, silent, but Hinata just repeats the question.

“I wanted to look pretty too,” Kageyama mumbles.

“Huh? Why?”

Kageyama’s reply is barely audible even to herself.

“What?”

“Because you looked pretty and I wanted to look pretty too,” she says, still in a low voice, looking away from Hinata.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying!” Hinata says, moving over to straddle Kageyama, and putting her hands on Kageyama’s face to make her look forward. “Please say it again?”

Kageyama’s blushing as she repeats her answer, and her face grows hotter when Hinata’s eyes widen and she starts talking, shaking her head.

“But you are pretty! You’re really pretty!” Hinata looks straight into Kageyama’s eyes, full of admiration, and points at her own chest. “You’re so pretty it kinda hurt when I looked at you, and first I thought I might be having a stroke, but then it also hurt like that when I saw you toss, and when I saw you run, and when I just thought of you. And I wanted you to think I was pretty too, at least once, because you’re beautiful!”

“Don’t say something so embarrassing just like that!” Kageyama says, covering her face with her hands, because Hinata doesn’t lie about things like this and Kageyama doesn’t have the words to tell her all she needs to.

Hinata’s still straddling her and it doesn’t seem like she’s planning to move anytime soon, so Kageyama forces herself to get at least something out.

“You’re pretty,” she says, without uncovering her face. “Always.”

She peeks through her fingers and she could swear that Hinata’s glowing, that’s how bright her eyes and smile look to Kageyama.

They hold hands all the way home, and when they part they try kissing again. This time is also clumsy, awkward and, honestly, not really pleasant, but there are no injuries, so Hinata declares it a success.


End file.
